Light and darkness in north Sweden.

Sweden is a country with a lot of light, but it is also a country with a lot of darkness. It all depends on
what season it is. Just like many other countries in the northern hemisphere, there is a strong
contrast in the light conditions between summer and winter. In the winter it’s dark almost all the
time. And in summer it’s light all the time. During the summer in the very north of Sweden, the sun
never sets between the end of May until the middle of July. So you can see the sun 24 hours a day
and that is called the midnight sun. And then, during the winter in the very north of Sweden, it’s the
opposite. For a couple of weeks, the sun never rises above the horizon, which means there is no
sunlight for about a month. That is called the polar night. These extreme contrasts in light are caused
by the rotation of the earth about the position of the sun. And the further north you go, the bigger
the contrast is.
People who live in the middle north of Sweden , if they are lucky and there is a clear sky, can see the
sun above the treetops for about an hour during the darkest time of the year. But winters, when it is
cloudy every day, people don’t see a glimpse of the sun for over a month. And that feeling when
they begin to feel the sunlight again in January is always overwhelming. Its like seeing the sun for the
first time in your life.
Even if it can be hard sometimes with these kinds of light conditions, people love it and they would
never want to change it. The light is never as beautiful as it is during these most extreme times of
the year.
When it is summer people usually change their rhythm and stay up all night and then sleep in the
forenoon instead. The light is so beautiful in the middle of the night. Some people say it is like a
dream to be out and capture the beauty of the bright nights in June. And then in the winter, even if
they don’t get so much sunlight, they at least get a few hours of twilight during the day. It is like
experiencing a long sunrise with the sun. And when it’s a clear sky and the sun is rising just a tiny bit
above the treetops it spreads a soft and pink light all over the landscape.
Around 3 in the day its already getting dark and it makes the evenings feel never-ending. But the
darkness makes people see what is never visible in the light. Because actually they do get sunlight
from thousands of suns far, far away. Particles from storms on the surface of the sun come travelling
towards the earth colliding with their magnetic field and creating the Aurora Borealis. The northern
lights that dance in the sky. But even if there is so much beauty to find in these special kinds of light
conditions that they have there in the north, its not always easy to live and adapt to them. Well, the
summer is easy. You cant have too much light. The only thing that people often ask is if it is harder to
sleep when it is light all night, but people there usually don’t have a problem with that. It is easily
fixed with some thick and dark curtains.
But the winter and the darkness are definitely much more challenging. The lack of sunlight makes
people more tired and during the darkest and coldest months between November and March,
people sometimes struggle to keep up the energy. Its harder to get up in the morning when it is dark
outside. Our body naturally wants to wake up with the sun. In the afternoon people often get
confused with the time since the darkness makes it feel like it is much later than it really is.
But of course, there are many things you can do to make the winters a little easier. I will mention a
few things that help people adapt better to the lack of sunlight.
The tiredness that people feel in the winters is the hardest part, the energy level is so low
sometimes, and the cure to that is not always to sleep more, it can actually be to do the opposite. So
people try their best to keep being active and moving their body as much as they can and get as
much daylight as possible. They go for long walks every day or go skiing. Some people also love to
take ice baths combined with breathing exercises. This has become one of the best ways of boosting
yourself with new energy when you need it the most. Going into that freezing water its actually the
last thing the body wants to do in this moment, but putting yourself into that kind of discomfort is
awakening something in you that helps reset your body. Believe it or not, but cold swims and cold
showers have many good health benefits. It is not for everyone of course. And it is important to get
knowledge before trying an ice bath if you have never done it before. So people really feel a big
difference in their energy levels in the winter when they move their body in some way. It doesn’t
need to be a full workout, but just something. A little every day that makes you feel alive.
When people cant get enough energy from the sun, it is even more important to make sure that
they get enough energy and nutrition from their food. Nature has so much to give them in the
summer, that they can harvest and save for the winter when they need it the most. There in the
north, they have plenty of berries in the forest, so some people like to pick tons of blueberries and
lingonberries and put them in the freezer, so they can eat berries and drink juice from berries every
single day during the whole winter.
People also like to pick different herbs that are good for their health and dry them to make tea. And
the tea smells and taste just like how it smells in the spring . And in the middle of the winter, it feels
so comforting to have a piece of the spring to remind you of the wonderful time to come when
everything is blooming and the birds are singing again.
And of course, people also take vitamin D supplements since they don’t get anything from the sun in
many months. Even though that would never replace the sun, it can help a little bit.
The list of things you can do to handle the darkness is endless. These were just to mention a few. But
the most important thing of all is to accept and adapt to the cycles of nature. The winter and the
darkness can cause a lot of unnecessary suffering when people are trying to force themselves to feel
the same as they do in the summer. Its okay to feel tired. Its okay to feel a lack of inspiration. And its
okay to need more sleep and to let things slow down.
So this is how is to live with the light and darkness in the north of Sweden. The extreme contrasts in
light also create bigger contrasts to the seasons. And they all have their own beauty.